Old Elbe Tunnel or St. Pauli Elbe Tunnel (

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

: ''Alter Elbtunnel'' colloquially or ''St. Pauli Elbtunnel'' officially), which opened in 1911, is a pedestrian and vehicle tunnel in

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

. The 426 m (1,398 ft) long tunnel was a technical sensation; 24 m (80 ft) beneath the surface, two 6 m (20 ft) diameter tubes connect central Hamburg with the docks and shipyards on the south side of the river

Elbe The Elbe ( ; ; or ''Elv''; Upper Sorbian, Upper and , ) is one of the major rivers of Central Europe. It rises in the Giant Mountains of the northern Czech Republic before traversing much of Bohemia (western half of the Czech Republic), then Ge ...

. This was a big improvement for tens of thousands of workers in one of the busiest harbors in the world. Six large

lift Lift or LIFT may refer to: Physical devices * Elevator, or lift, a device used for raising and lowering people or goods ** Paternoster lift, a type of lift using a continuous chain of cars which do not stop ** Patient lift, or Hoyer lift, mobile ...

s on either side of the tunnel carry pedestrians and vehicles to the bottom. The two tunnels are both still in operation, though due to their limited capacity by today's standards, other bridges and tunnels have been built and taken over most of the traffic. In 2008 approximately 300,000 cars, 63,000 bicycles, and 700,000 pedestrians used the tunnel. The tunnel is opened 24 hours for pedestrians and bicycles; however, as of October 2023, the tunnel is closed to all motor vehicles.

History

On 22 July 1907 the construction, undertaken by Philipp Holzmann,Groß, p. 50 started to connect the quarters of

St. Pauli St. Pauli (Sankt Pauli; ) is a quarter of the city of Hamburg belonging to the centrally located Hamburg-Mitte borough. Situated on the right bank of the Elbe river, the nearby Landungsbrücken is a northern part of the port of Hamburg. St. Pau ...

near the '' Landungsbrücken'' and

Steinwerder Steinwerder (German "stein" stone, "werder" (archaic) island or peninsula, translation "stone peninsula") is a quarter of Hamburg, Germany in the borough Hamburg-Mitte on the southern bank of the river Elbe. It is a primarily maritime industrial ...

. Work was done under pressure because the tunnel was below the

water table The water table is the upper surface of the phreatic zone or zone of saturation. The zone of saturation is where the pores and fractures of the ground are saturated with groundwater, which may be fresh, saline, or brackish, depending on the loc ...

of the

. This type of building technique was used in the 19th century, in large engineering excavations, such as with the

pier A pier is a raised structure that rises above a body of water and usually juts out from its shore, typically supported by piling, piles or column, pillars, and provides above-water access to offshore areas. Frequent pier uses include fishing, b ...

s of

bridge A bridge is a structure built to Span (engineering), span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or railway) without blocking the path underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, whi ...

s and with

tunnel A tunnel is an underground or undersea passageway. It is dug through surrounding soil, earth or rock, or laid under water, and is usually completely enclosed except for the two portals common at each end, though there may be access and ve ...

s, where caissons under pressure were used to keep water from flooding the excavations, such as the foundations of the

Brooklyn Bridge The Brooklyn Bridge is a cable-stayed suspension bridge in New York City, spanning the East River between the boroughs of Manhattan and Brooklyn. Opened on May 24, 1883, the Brooklyn Bridge was the first fixed crossing of the East River. It w ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. Workers who spend time in high-pressure atmospheric pressure conditions are at risk when they return to the lower pressure outside the caisson without slowly reducing the surrounding pressure. Due to the problems associated with

decompression sickness Decompression sickness (DCS; also called divers' disease, the bends, aerobullosis, and caisson disease) is a medical condition caused by dissolved gases emerging from Solution (chemistry), solution as bubbles inside the body tissues during D ...

, many of the men working on the Elbe tunnel were affected by what was known at the time as "Caissons Disease". Of 4,400 workers three men died, 74 suffered severe cases and more than 600 came down with light symptoms. The tunnel opened on 7 September 1911.

Modern usage

In the tunnel an art exhibition and a long-distance

running Running is a method of terrestrial locomotion by which humans and other animals move quickly on foot. Running is a gait with an aerial phase in which all feet are above the ground (though there are exceptions). This is in contrast to walkin ...

event ''Elbtunnel-

Marathon The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of kilometres ( 26 mi 385 yd), usually run as a road race, but the distance can be covered on trail routes. The marathon can be completed by running or with a run/walk strategy. There ...

'' take place. In 2008 the tunnel participated in the

Tag des offenen Denkmals The Tag des offenen Denkmals (Day of Open Monuments) is an annual event all over Germany. The day of action has been coordinated by the Deutsche Stiftung Denkmalschutz since 1993. Historic monuments are open to the public free of charge. It takes ...

("Day of the open heritage site"), a Germany-wide annual event sponsored by the ''Deutsche Stiftung Denkmalschutz'' that opens

cultural heritage Cultural heritage is the heritage of tangible and intangible heritage assets of a group or society that is inherited from past generations. Not all heritages of past generations are "heritage"; rather, heritage is a product of selection by socie ...

sites to the public. On the occasion of the reopening of the east tube (on May 22 and 23, 2019), the Hamburg University of Music and Drama and the Hamburg Port Authority organized 4 concerts "Symphony in the St. Pauli Elbtunnel" under the direction of Prof. Georg Hajdu. The pieces composed specifically for this space were orchestrated with strings, winds, accordion, percussion and vocals. For each of the 144 musicians distributed in the two tunnel tubes, the music was displayed in real time on tablets individually controlled by a server computer. The enthusiastic audience walked through the tube and everyone had a unique, individual listening and sound experience in space and time.

Media

The old tunnel has featured in several films including ''

The Odessa File ''The Odessa File'' is a thriller by English writer Frederick Forsyth, first published in 1972, about the adventures of a young German reporter attempting to discover the location of a former SS concentration-camp commander. The name ODESSA ...

'', ''

Matchless Matchless is one of the oldest marques of British motorcycles, manufactured in Plumstead, London, between 1899 and 1966. A wide range of models were produced under the Matchless name, ranging from small two-strokes to 750 cc Four-stroke cy ...

'', '' $'', ''

The American Friend ''The American Friend'' () is a 1977 neo-noir film written and directed by Wim Wenders, adapted from the 1974 novel '' Ripley's Game'' by Patricia Highsmith. It stars Dennis Hopper as career-criminal Tom Ripley and Bruno Ganz as Jonathan Zimmerman ...

'' (Der Amerikanische Freund) and ''

Secret Agent Fireball ''Le spie uccidono a Beirut'' (literally, ''The Spies kill in Beirut'', also titled ''Da 077 : le spie uccidono a Beirut'', i.e. ''Message from 077 : the spies kill in Beirut'') is a 1965 Italian/ French international co-production spy film perta ...

''. The tunnel was also featured in the music video for " One (Always Hardcore)" by German band Scooter.

Decoration

The tunnel walls are decorated with glazed terra cotta ornaments displaying items related to the Elbe river. While most show fish or crabs, a few show different items like litter and rats, too. Image:Alter Elbtunnel - Majolikarelief Stiefel.jpg, Old boot and rats Image:Alter Elbtunnel, Wandplastik 14.jpg,

Plaice Plaice is a common name for a group of flatfish that comprises four species: the European, American, Alaskan and scale-eye plaice. Commercially, the most important plaice is the European. The principal commercial flatfish in Europe, it is ...

(''Pleuronectes platessa'') Image:Alter Elbtunnel, Wandplastik 4.jpg,

Sturgeon Sturgeon (from Old English ultimately from Proto-Indo-European language, Proto-Indo-European *''str̥(Hx)yón''-) is the common name for the 27 species of fish belonging to the family Acipenseridae. The earliest sturgeon fossils date to the ...

(''Acipenser sturio'')

References

Sources

External links

Pictures of the old Elbe Tunnel
{{Authority control Buildings and structures in Hamburg-Mitte Heritage sites in Hamburg Transport in Hamburg Road tunnels in Germany Tourist attractions in Hamburg Tunnels completed in 1911 Elbe 1911 establishments in Germany